Our Little Secret
by Hattie1997
Summary: In the summer between her fifth and sixth year, Hermione recieves an offer to become the youngest Auror ever. When Hogwarts resumes she is forced to hide her job from her friends for safety reasons. When strange things start happening, it is her job to find out who is responsible. But will she be able to work with Draco without one of them dying? Who knows. Read and review.
1. Prologue

**Here's another story for you…hope you like it.**

**Prologue**

Hermione Granger smiled slightly as she stared at her three best friends: Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Ginevra Weasley. The four of them were at the Burrow (the Weasley household), the elder three awaiting their O.W.L results which would determine what subjects they could take in their sixth year.

Hermione was understandably nervous, her teeth were pulling at her bottom lip and her eyes were swivelling this way and that as she searched for any sign of the school Owls. Harry and Ron looked much more composed than their female friend but inside they were just as nervous…if not more so. Everyone who knew Hermione Granger knew that she would get perfect results. The same could not be said for the youngest male Weasley and his best friend. Their scores were mediocre at best, though Harry did excel in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

All four were broken from their thoughts by the swishing of wings as three Owls soared through the partially open window. Ginny clapped her hands excitedly, waiting as her friends opened their letters with slow determination.

Hermione glanced sidelong at hers, almost too scared to read what it said.

_Hermione Granger:_

_Transfiguration – O  
Charms – O  
Potions – O  
History of Magic – O  
Arithmancy – O  
Muggle studies – O  
Herbology – O  
Defense Against the Dark Arts – E  
Care of Magical Creatures – O  
Study of ancient runes – O  
Astronomy –O_

She let out the slightest sigh of disappointment and a faint, "Oh no," as she took in the only E she had received…in DADA no less.

"What?" Ron asked guardedly, his eyes still fixated on his own scores (in which he got no O's and 6 E's). "It's not like you didn't do perfectly." The faintest trace of bitterness clouded his words but Hermione didn't let it get to her. Instead she replied, "I got an E in DADA."

"You got all O's apart from that, though, right?" Harry teased, smiling slightly as his female friend took in the grinning O on his results next to the words Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"That's brilliant, Harry," she enthused loudly, trying to push the jealousy to one side as she took in his other scores. He may have gotten an O in the one subject she hadn't, but he had only gotten one (and he did get a P in Divination…although it _was _Divination so maybe it didn't count).

She gave a small laugh as Fred and George Weasley came rushing in from outside, beaming at the four teens sitting at the table, three of whom had their O.W.L scores in front of them.

"Ooh, let's see how little Ronnikins did," George teased while Fred nicked his scores, skimming over them once.

"Aah, he didn't get any O's," Fred said and George chimed in, "But he still got more than us."

"Hey you six, do you want to play a game of Quidditch?" Charlie Weasley, the second to eldest Weasley sibling, yelled from the garden. Having never been much of a fan of Quidditch (and flying in general) Hermione opted out while the other five eagerly ran out, broad grins on all of their faces. What are so special about Quidditch?

As she was pondering this question there was a knock on the door. She paused, wondering if she should call for Molly Weasley or answer it herself. Eventually (after three more knocks) she opted for the latter and cautiously moved over to it, peering outside. In the gathering dusk, however, all she could make out was a long, black cloak and grizzled, greying hair. Behind the mystery man stood four others. All she could make out of these final four were the shiny A's (standing for Auror) on their cloaks. Heart in her mouth she wondered why the Auror's were there. Was someone in trouble? Was someone injured?

Before she could think further on it, a voice said quietly, "Hermione, open up."

She recognized that voice but still didn't trust the owner. It could be polyjuice potion for all she knew.

Pulling her wand out of her pocket, she slowly opened the door, revealing the faces of Rufus Scrimgeour (the current Minister for Magic), Kingsley Shaklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks and two others she didn't recognize.

Make your nose into a pig's snout," she ordered, directing the question at the speaker, Tonks. The only child of Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks didn't even blink and Hermione even thought she may have seen a small smile curling the corners of her mouth as she did as requested, prompting the brunette to drop her wand. Not even the strongest polyjuice potion could transfer Tonks' ability to change aspects of her appearance at will.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, noticing with the slightest feeling of foreboding that the sun had now completely set.

Ignoring her, Kingsley gave her an appraising look, "It was good of you not to trust us."

"Come," Scrimgeour said, speaking for the first time and the five adults and one teenager moved over into the shadows of the trees so that they could not be overheard.

"We have a preposition for you," Scrimgeour began, "You have received the highest O.W.L results in over a century and we wish to offer you an Auror apprenticeship. If you accept you will continue on at school but occasionally have to leave for assignments.

"I'll do it," Hermione answered as soon as he'd finished speaking. She didn't even hesitate; she knew this was what she wanted.

"Are you sure?" Kingsley asked cautiously, and the sixteen year old nodded frantically.

"Definitely."

A wry smile curled the corners of the Ministers mouth as he interrupted before any of his Auror's could speak. "Then meet us out here tomorrow, same time, same place."

Hermione nodded once more before turning on her heel and beginning to walk away. However, before she could get very far she was called back. "And don't tell anyone. This is our little secret."

"I won't," she called back softly, allowing a small smile to filter on her face at the thought of a secret she knew that the Weasley's and Harry didn't. Sometimes it was nice to have a secret; she didn't get to have very many of them because of Harry's and Ron's stubborn overprotectiveness. Oh well, they didn't mean very harm.

The small grin turned into a fully-fledged beam as she moved back into the house and made her way to bed, passing a curious Ginny on the stairs.

**PLEASE READ THE AUTHORS NOTE; IT IS IMPORTANT…**

**I was wondering how I should continue with this story. Should it be in the third person or in the first person? Please read and review and tell me what you think. Hopefully I'll get quite a few suggestions and the majority vote will win.**

**Thanks.**


	2. Auror Training

**V.O.L 2 – I'll keep this in third person for the moment, then, but at times I may change to first person if I feel it fits the mood. Thanks so much for the review and if you have any ideas about how I could change / improve this story, your input would be welcome. I hope you like this chapter and please read and review.**

**Auror Training**

True to her word, Hermione managed to keep her new profession secret from her friends, as hard as it was. The next day was so hard. She had found herself almost caving on more than one occasion, but every time the words were about to spill out of her mouth, an image of Scrimgeour came into her mind as he asked her to keep it a secret.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked from next to the brunette. Hermione's eyes widened in horror, thinking that maybe she had been musing aloud and Ginny had heard her. Her friend's next words dispelled that as she said, "We're going out in the garden to play Quidditch. We'll be back in late, will you be okay?"

Secretly the darker-haired woman was ecstatic at this news as it would mean that she could go and meet Scrimgeour and be back before anyone noticed her missing. She couldn't tell the auburn-haired woman this, however, so she faked nonchalance and replied loudly, "Sure but I might be asleep when you get back."

Ginny's tinkling laughter followed her as she exited the house and Hermione hurriedly changed out of the rather uncomfortable skirt her female friend had forced her into and instead she chose a pair of shorts with leggings and a vest-top. That was much more suited for what she was probably going to be doing.

She could barely contain her excitement as she wondered what, exactly; she was going to be doing. She let a tiny, girly, very un-Hermione-like giggle escape her mouth as she prepared to meet the Minister for Magic so that he could take her to the Ministry.

_Dong. _Mrs Weasley's clock chimed loudly.

It was time…

On almost-silent feet, Hermione slipped out of the room she was currently sharing with Ginny and moved downstairs. She could hear the shouts and exclamations from outside. Molly Weasley and Fleur Weasley were sitting together in the table in the dining room as Hermione walked past. Molly turned to face her, her face showing her surprise.

"Where are you going at this time, dear?" she asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"It's only six o'clock, Molly," the petite brunette reassured her, "And I'm only going for a walk. I'll be back soon."

"It may only be six o'clock but it has been getting darker earlier due to the Death Eater activity," Mrs Weasley fretted, her eyes showing her concern for the younger girl. She already saw Hermione as a daughter and didn't wish for anything to happen to her.

"She will be fine, will you not, Hermione?" Fleur asked in her heavily accented English.

"I will."

"Fine," Molly conceded after a long moment, "But don't be out too long…and don't step past the wards."

"I won't," Hermione replied, aware that she was going to have to break that order but at the moment she didn't really care because she was five minutes late, and if Scrimgeour was anything like Fudge he would not wish to be kept waiting.

Giving a small nod to the two women across from her, Hermione opened the door, wincing as it protested loudly. She could see the faint outlines of the Minister as well as two other people she presumed were Kingsley and Tonks. She was proved right as she neared and had to hold back a grin at her two favourite Auror's.

Scrimgeour, however, glared at her. "You're late."

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I was held…"

"I don't care," he interrupted harshly. "Kingsley, bring her."

The dark-skinned man nodded and held out his hand for the sixteen-year-old to take. She did so without hesitation and soon they were standing in the Minister's office.

"I thought you couldn't apparate inside the Ministry," she said loudly, bursting with questions as usual.

"_You_ can't, but I can," the Minister replied shortly, frowning at the tiny girl in front of him. He had heard from a _reliable_ source (meaning Lucius Malfoy, who was now residing in Azkaban) how annoying she was but hadn't really believed it. Now he did. Now he definitely did.

"But what about the Auror's?" she asked, "Surely Kingsley and Tonks can't."

"They can if I give them permission."

"Interesting," Hermione mused, glancing about the grandly furnished room. Rufus had to repress a smile at her clear enthusiasm. Okay, so maybe she wasn't as annoying as he'd previously thought. Maybe she'd actually become a great Auror.

"Right, Kingsley will take you to the practice room and you will begin your training then."

"I start now?" she asked, surprise heavy in her voice. She had thought that there would be some sort of arrangements to make before she actually got started. At her clear bemusement, Rufus had to laugh. She stared at him in amazement for a moment before reluctantly cracking a smile.

"I will join you in a few minutes," the Minister reassured her, "We will go through arrangements then."

"Okay," Hermione replied slowly, giving Kingsley a hesitant smile before following him through the Ministry until they came to a sparsely furnished room. The walls were plain white, bordering on blinding, and there was nothing else in the room.

"This room works a bit like the Room of Requirement," Kingsley informed her as they moved in. At the smaller girls surprised look, he laughed shortly, "Yes we know all about your antics there last year." Hermione had the grace to blush at the reminder but she made no reply and moved further into the room before turning back to her instructor, a question in her face. "When do we start?"

"Moody is correct," he began, causing her to frown in confusion but Kingsley made no indication that he saw and continued regardless. "Constant Vigilance." Without warning he threw a book at her. With reflexes she didn't know she possessed, she caught it in one hand, flipping it up so that it rested in both.

"Good," he praised. "Now, we could spend all of our time learning from books, or we could do the practical stuff." He walked over and took the book from her, throwing it into the corner. Hermione winced at the clear disregard for the book but did not go towards it. Instead she continued to face Kingsley, waiting for an instruction.

"Now, let's see how much work we need to do."

Hermione nodded and in the next second Kingsley had moved to the side of the room, which was no longer white. Instead she seemed to be in a long street with houses here and there along with random boxes that would be suitable for hiding behind.

She heard a noise from further down the street and ran towards it. Coming to a stop she could see that the shop on her left was on fire and people were streaming out of it by the dozen, screaming for their friends and family. She was unsure of what to do and hesitated for a moment. The arrival of firemen made up her decision and in a split second her wand was in her hand and she sent a stunning curse at a faint shadow that disappeared down a side street.

Without thinking further on it, Hermione followed him. He turned about half-way down the street and shot a killing curse at her. Unsure if a simple _Protego _would stop it, she jumped out of the way and sent a curse of her own back.

"Petrificus Totalus," she yelled, letting out a cry of frustration as he blocked it easily.

Then she saw it.

Next to her was a simple outside bin which would provide effective cover. He couldn't be able to see her and she could sneak up on him that way. Grinning at her own ingenious, she quickly disappeared.

She heard rather than saw his confusion but made no move that she was there. Wet footsteps slapped on the floor as he approached where he had seen her disappear from.

"Stupefy," she suddenly yelled, jumping out of hiding and catching him by surprise. He managed to block it, but only barely, and her next spell shot straight through his weak spell and caused him to collapse on the floor. All she could see was a grizzled, grey beard and big, bushy eyebrows before the room was back to white once more.

"Very good," Kingsley praised, moving into her eyesight and she gave him a small grin. "But you still have a long way to go."

"Of course," she replied quietly as the door burst open and Rufus Scrimgeour and Nymphadora Tonks entered, the latter giving the two occupants a small grin before she gave Hermione a form to sign.

**Ooh…what do you think the form is then? And I know it was only in the room, but Hermione's opponent will come into the story soon. Who do you think he is? Please read and review.**


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